Miami-Dade students improved their scores on two of four national reading and math exams, even as scores dropped nationally. The results are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP — also known as the “nation’s report card.” The test is given every two years in math and reading to 4th and 8th grade […]
John O’Connor / StateImpact Florida Frances S. Tucker Elementary School fifth grade teacher Yaliesperanza Salazar. Math lessons are carefully designed to match Florida’s new Common Core-based standards. Florida just completed the first year of one of the biggest experiments in U.S. education. For the first time this year, every grade in every public school used […]
The superintendents of Florida two largest school district say it is less likely they’ll make students repeat third grade next year because of low state reading test scores. State law requires that students earning the lowest score on the reading exam have to repeat third grade unless they are granted an exemption. About 16,000 students […]
Yesterday, a Senate committee appeared to suspend for one year Florida’s requirement that the lowest-performing 3rd graders be held back while the state validates results from its new test. But Senate Education committee chairman John Legg says it’s not that simple. What the committee actually did, Legg says, is put the responsibility on school districts […]
Editor’s note: Check out the update to this story here. Nearly one in five Florida 3rd graders were at risk of being held back because of low scores on the state reading test last year. But this year the state might not hold back any 3rd graders. That’s because a Senate committee voted to suspend […]
We’ve been answering audience questions about Florida’s new statewide test, the Florida Standards Assessments. A parent asked us on Facebook: “Please find out for us parents of third graders, who face mandatory retention if they fail the new reading assessment this spring, how the state plans to deal with them. Will they return to 3rd […]
We’re taking this week to help parents and students understand the new Florida Standards Assessments, which students will take for the first time beginning in March. The math, reading and writing exam (reading and writing are combined as English language arts) is intended to measure how well students in third through eleventh grades understand Florida’s […]
This spring, Florida students will take a brand new test tied to the state’s new math, reading and writing standards. This is the test that replaces the FCAT. It’s known as the Florida Standards Assessment, and it’ll be online. What’s on the test won’t be the only thing different about the exam. Students will also […]
When we sat in on classes at Miami Northwestern High School to report on the Million Word Campaign, one of the writers whose work was discussed was Sherman Alexie. Alexie frequently writes about American Indian life, including the movie Smoke Signals. Alexie also appeared at the Miami Book Fair International last year to talk about […]
Miami Northwestern High School teacher Daniel Dickey says there’s no silver bullet or secret book which will spark a student’s interest in reading. Instead, he says he asks questions and listens. “I sit down with that student and really figure out what is it that drives you?” Dickey says. “Why do you come to school? […]
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